Police Brutality Downriver

In October 2021 the ACLU of Michigan filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, urging its Civil Rights Division to investigate the Taylor Police Department for racially biased policing and its excessive use of force. Our complaint followed years of investigating reports from multiple sources that the police department had become one of the most violent and lawless in the state. Taylor is in what is referred to as the “downriver” region near Detroit. It is 78 percent white and 16 percent Black; nearly 25 percent of the population is under the age of 18, and 11 percent are below the poverty line. Taylor’s police department employs 75 officers, but the first African American officer was not hired until 2012. Our complaint highlighted 20 instances of excessive force, punishment of citizens for what is sometimes called “contempt of cop,” unlawful use of tasers to force compliance with police orders, racially disparate hostile conduct, waivers of liability induced by blackmail over criminal charges, and hostile, incompetent leadership. We were notified that our petition was referred to the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for review. In July 2023 we directed a Freedom of Information Act request to Taylor to obtain records that might shed light on the police department’s conduct since 2021 when it was reported to the Department of Justice, but the city is refusing to turn over any of the requested records. Meanwhile, we are following a pending federal lawsuit by one of the taser victims highlighted in the report to the Department of Justice and anticipate filing a friend-of-the-court brief in his case. (ACLU Attorney Mark P. Fancher.)